412 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



on very many moors in the south and west of Scotland, and that not 

 much effort is being made to combat this pest. Thick bracken will rapidly 

 destroy both grass and heather, but of the two it is probable that the heather 

 will be the more easily destroyed, and if bracken has once taken possession of 

 ground for a period of years it will be found, on clearing the ground by regular 

 cutting, that grass will probably come where heather formerly flourished. It is a 

 common experience, when burning fairly old heather, to find that the few bracken 

 stems which existed among the heather give rise to a much thicker crop on the 

 bare ground, and may entirely choke the fresh growth of young heather. 



Despite most careful investigation by the Highland and Agricultural Society, 

 and other interested bodies, no specific has yet been discovered to cure the bracken 

 trouble. 1 



In the course of their investigations the Committee have noticed that 

 bracken very seldom grows on crofter "soumings" where there are many ponies. 

 While they do not feel that they have enough evidence on the subject to claim 

 that this is a solution, they mention the fact as one which may be worth further 

 inquiry and experiment. 



In considering the general question of heather-burning, blaeberry ground 

 has been dealt with as heather ground, and its further treatment need not be 

 gone into in any detail. It is unfortunate that sheep are specially fond 

 of the blaeberry plant in its younger stages, and on moors carrying a 

 heavy stock of sheep this valuable plant is often grazed down to the root. Grouse 

 eat blaeberries (buds, leaves, and berries) with avidity ; even the caterpillars that 

 infest the plant in early summer are a source of food-supply for young birds. 

 It may be noted from an examination of the tables of crop-contents that the 

 consumption of blaeberry by the Grouse is irregular, and the percentage seems 

 to depend more on the general supply of food than on any tendency of the 

 birds to eat the plant more in one month than another. 



From statistics collected, blaeberries appear to form 30 per cent, of all the 

 foods taken by the Grouse in Derbyshire ; 22 per cent, in Yorkshire ; and 

 11 per cent, in some of the counties of Scotland. Undoubtedly a good deal 

 could be done to increase the food-yield of the moor by encouraging the growth 

 of this hardy plant, either by fencing off areas where it is eaten down by sheep 

 or by planting it in suitable places. 



Colonel G. J. Fergusson-Buchanan of Auchentorbi has recently printed a pamphlet setting forth the 

 success which has attended his efforts to get rid of bracken on heather and grass land. 



